Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[ls7plus]

Best: Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew and Frank Howard. All very congenial, down to earth people willing to engage in at least brief conversation. I told Killebrew that I was pleased to meet him at an autograph show, even if he had been instrumental in beating my Tigers so many times. He replied, "Well, I'm very glad to meet you," and appeared to be very sincere in saying so. One of his neighbors said when he died that he was the kind of person that made the whole neighborhood feel safer! Treating people with respect until they prove themselves unworthy of it goes a long, long way. See Ted Z's story above with regard to meeting Ted Williams.

Worst: Derek Jeter and Reggie Jackson. The former was rude to the point of being insulting upon being very politely asked to autograph a baseball bearing the signatures from as many all-stars as I could get to sign at the hotel where they were staying for the 1999 game in Boston. He strongly insinuated that because I was an adult (then 46) I only wanted his autograph to sell it and make money. He stated he only signed for the kids, and indeed he was--signing for a number of kids who were repeatedly being fed balls for that purpose by a couple of dealers just a few yards away. What a jerk! His shabby treatment of Giancarlo Stanton recently with regard to waiving the latter's no-trade clause only serves to underscore that assessment. Stanton, notably, had the good grace not to sink to his level. I should add that Tony Gwynn and Joe Torre were extremely gracious in signing and even conversing a bit at the same time and place.

With Reggie, his act upon being asked for an autograph in even the most polite manner possible, when he was only standing all alone in the hotel lobby, was to treat you as if you weren't even there--completely invisible and inaudible, and unworthy of having your presence acknowledged in any way! Guess I didn't realize how special he still was at age 52 or 53.

Compare the latter two with Babe Ruth, who was known to sign until every person who wanted his autograph got one!

Best regards,

Larry

[oldjudge]

I’ve met a lot of athletes, but there are three that I remember not liking. At the top of the list, far away in the lead, is that pompous Reggie Jackson. I didn’t like Ralph Terry or Lynn Swann either, but they are not even in the same zip code as Reggie.

[Chuck9788]

Good : I've met many boxers. Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns and "The Flushing Flash Kevin Kelly are among the long list of many nice pugilists that I've encountered. Baseball wise Yankees pitcher "Steady" Eddie Lopat was very nice to me when I was a young kid at a signing. Football : Jets Linebacker Joe Klecko was really cool when we met and in hockey Rod Langway from the Washington Capitals stands out. Everyone tells me that Brooks Robinson is the nicest guy.



Bad : I really don't have any. Mainly because rather than strike up a conversation about their sports careers, I tend to talk about other subjects. Example ; Talking about boxing for 10 minutes with the "Big Hurt" Frank Thomas at the Las Vegas airport. There was not one mention of his baseball career. I legitimately was more interested in his opinions on the fight game, And I feel he respected that.

[Bestdj777]

I live in DC, so my "celebrity" encounters primarily involve politic figures, who are pretty accommodating. Two that stood out were Scalia and McCain. I met Scalia at a mixer. He was incredibly friendly and willingly signed for anyone that wanted autographs (there were a few 9th Circuit judges there that were similarly accommodating). Scalia had an interesting approach though. He didn't want to interrupt his conversation with the group to pose for pictures, but would let you take photos of him or near him. It made sense but would have loved a better photo with him.

McCain was also really friendly. I ran into him on the street and shook his hand and spoke for a second. After I left, I saw someone take a photo with him and instantly regretted not asking. I turned around and he gave my phone to his assistant so she could take one. Understanding how busy he is, I kept the interaction to a minimum. But he left me with a very favorable impression.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

[Derek Jeter] stated he only signed for the kids

I don't understand the "I only sign for kids" mentality. For the sake of discussion, let's presume each and every kid is pure of heart and wants the autograph for themselves, and don't fall into the category of...

Originally Posted by ls7plus

kids who were repeatedly being fed balls [for Jeter to sign] by a couple of dealers just a few yards away.

Do the "I only sign for kids" people expect those kids to suddenly lose their interest in autographs the moment they turn 18?

[ronniehatesjazz]

Originally Posted by Gary Dunaier

I don't understand the "I only sign for kids" mentality. For the sake of discussion, let's presume each and every kid is pure of heart and wants the autograph for themselves, and don't fall into the category of...



Do the "I only sign for kids" people expect those kids to suddenly lose their interest in autographs the moment they turn 18?

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's unfair to serious collectors and fans who truly are in it for the love of collecting. On the other hand, I can think of two different experiences that would cause me to think like Jeter does (god knows how many experiences he has). When I was in high school I went to an Indians/Angels game. I wasn't a big collector at that time (typical young guy who leaves the hobby for girls, sports, etc.) but I was always a huge fan of Tim Salmon growing up and there he was pre game signing some autographs for some young Cleveland fans. I was a little embarrassed but I decided to go among the crowd of 10 year olds for an autograph of one of my childhood heroes. Keep in mind I was 17 (looked older though because of my height). I saw a guy who was mid 50's pushing through the crowd of kids with an album that full of cards. Kept going back to the same players time after time. The guy must have got 10 auto cards from each player. This guy didn't even appear to be that much of a fan and he was not being courteous to others trying to get autographs as well (5-12 year old kids). I actually saw him nudge (being polite; it was more like a light shove) a kid out of the way so he could capture a $3 auto of Benji Molina. I haven't asked for an autograph since watching all this happen. Another time I watched a middle aged man curse at Frank Thomas for not signing pre-game... The guy said things that would have likely caused a fight outside of the stadium... totally classless. If I were a pro, I'd sign for these fools just to get them out of the way but I can't fault some of them for focusing on signing for kids.

[Tabe]

A couple more, all from the same night:

In the late 90s, I was a teacher and coach at the high school in Craig, CO. The used car dealer in town knew several Denver Broncos and arranged for them to come into town for a "faculty vs Broncos" fundraiser basketball game for the school's sports teams.

Good:

Glyn Milburn - first of all, Milburn was an incredible athlete. Unbelievably fast and, at 5'7" or whatever, could touch the top of the backboard. Couldn't play basketball though - must have missed half a dozen dunks. Anyway, at the after party, I got a chance to talk to him. Told him I was a Lions fan and that I hoped the rumored trade of him to Detroit would happen. He smiled and said he was just glad someone wanted him. Super nice guy.

Bad:

Unknown Broncos lineman: he decided the game should be full contact and would run into me away from the ball every chance he got. Very annoying.

Other: Ed McCaffrey played in the game and was great. I had a wide open 3 when he was standing under the basket. He seemingly took one step and somehow blocked my shot. I swear he was 11-feet tall with arms a mile long.

[bigfanNY]

In defense of Reggie Jackson in the past 5 years I have been in a room with Reggie about the same number of times. Every spring the Yankees put on an event for the Boys and Girls club in Tampa. Reggie is in no way obligated to show up but dose every year. I also saw him signing at a show in New Jersey a couple years ago. Entire crowd chanted Reg-Gie!!. And he was very nice to everybody. Just my experiance.. As I said earlier A big part of getting in person autographs is getting told no.. Nobody owes me as a fan a signature I consider each one a gift.

[johnmh71]

I don't want to dwell on bad experiences as the worst happened with my favorite player as a kid, so I'll focus on the positive. Rico Petrocelli was way beyond nice when I met him at a card show. I had him sign the 1968 Topps Game 6 World Series card that shows him hitting a homer with Tim McCarver behind the plate. He said that over the years he had never signed one that had been signed already by McCarver and advised me to get it signed by him after he signed it. He was very nice and engaging with everyone. A class act.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

In defense of Reggie Jackson in the past 5 years I have been in a room with Reggie about the same number of times. Every spring the Yankees put on an event for the Boys and Girls club in Tampa. Reggie is in no way obligated to show up but dose every year. I also saw him signing at a show in New Jersey a couple years ago. Entire crowd chanted Reg-Gie!!. And he was very nice to everybody. Just my experiance.. As I said earlier A big part of getting in person autographs is getting told no.. Nobody owes me as a fan a signature I consider each one a gift.

Reggie got a dose in Tampa!

[Bigdaddy]

One of the best encounters I've had (outside of paid appearances) was with John Wetteland at the ballpark when he was a pitching coach for the Mariners.

John came over and signed autographs before the game for all the fans and really engaged them in conversation, asking questions about them. He seemed genuinely interested. John signed a couple of cards for me and left a big impression.